Benedict II Therenane
Benedict II was the fifteenth monarch of Dorio. He was known for declaring himself to be Azkaviel, and the disastrous consequences thereof. Early life Benedict II was born during the reign of his grandfather, Benedict I, to Prince Evan of Elhall. He was born one year after the appointment of Lord Reverend Quenton Wheeler, and as such Quenton would prove to be a major influence on Benedict's life. Due to this, Benedict grew up to be zealously religious, and he also picked up a sense of the growing Daravian resentment towards Dorio's growing globalization. These two combined to give Benedict a sort of unstable national pride in Dorio and Heplianism. Duke Evan's records suggest that, since Benedict was showing early signs of mental instability, he had planned to remove Benedict from the line of succession when he acceded the throne. However, due to Evan's 265 assassination, he was never able to put this into action, and Benedict II succeeded his grandfather directly. Reign Benedict did not make waves for the first three years of his reign; everything changed on 12 Hortisaft 270, when in a speech Benedict declared himself to be "Azkaviel come again, to celebrate the power of Dorio and Heplia, and to destroy the heathen slaves of Vazrana." This proved to be a monumentally bad decision: he alienated Vazranists, all of Valatsa, Heplians who advocated reconciliation with the Vazranist church, and even Heplian hard-liners who thought that Benedict's reference of Vazranist figures legitimized the faith. This being the case, Benedict's announcement was followed by a rash of riots all across the empire. The worst of the riots were in Vazranist Valatsa; there were many thousands of deaths in the region, between Valat soldiers, Dorian soldiers, and members of the Monastery of Arms. The Monastery as a whole was rejuvenated under Benedict, being sent throughout the Dorian Empire to quash the many revolts. Lord Reverend Claudius Limara declared in 278 that the Monastery was overextended, and tried to call all of the Heplian soldiers back into peacetime; Benedict, angered by this, had Dorian soldiers imprison Limara, and forced the Monastery to continue its crusading lest he execute Limara. This too backfired, as the previously fairly calm Leguna began a spate of uprisings owing to the imprisonment of the first Legunar Lord Reverend. An assassination attempt in 290 led to the amputation of Benedict's right hand and lower leg. Benedict played up his grisly image, having skeletal-looking prostheses built and wearing heavy cloaks around. In the end, Benedict's son Edric decided he was unfit to rule, and deposed his father in 292. Benedict and his most loyal monks were sent to the island of Thoptus to found an Azkavian monastery, where Benedict lived out his last four years in peace. Personal life Benedict was lustful even at a young age, and so he married Annette Canting in the year 255. The marriage was politically acclaimed, as marrying a gubernatorial house lent additional cachet to the Therenane family, and Benedict had his one child, Edric, in 257. Edric's labor was difficult, and Benedict was advised not to have any more children, but after several months he grew frustrated with precautions and Annette conceived again. The labor was again problematic, and both Annette and the unnamed son died. Benedict mostly ignored Edric, leading the boy to become very independent, although Edric did try to maintain some form of correspondence. As for his lusts, Benedict was rumored to have regularly brought prostitutes to his palace in the guise of nuns. Category:Dorians Category:Therenane Family Category:Monarchs